What is change tracking in EF Core?

Short answer: Change tracking is the process by which EF Core keeps track of changes made to entities after they are loaded from the database. This allows EF Core to generate the correct SQL INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statements when SaveChanges() is called.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

Read-only catalog pages use AsNoTracking() so EF Core does not spend time snapshotting entities you will never update.

Say this in the interview

1. Define — one clear sentence (the short answer above).
2. Example — relate it to a project like ShopNest or your real work.
3. Trade-off — when you would not use it.